Mythology and Folklore

 Microfiction seems like it would be difficult, mainly because you have to be extremely concise with your language. I think if I were to write microficiton, I would start out with a regular story, whittle it down to like, three hundred to five hundred words, and then go from there. I think doing that would be the easiest way. The most heartbreaking example of microfiction I can think of is that six word story—For sale: baby shoes, never worn. I think everyone knows that example. I did not touch the two sentence horror stories, mainly because I would probably freak myself out and not be able to sleep tonight.  My favorite microfiction (so far!) is the tiny love stories. There were some very poignant ones about learning how to love people in quarantine, either because you have been drifting apart in recent years, or because you had just moved in together.                                    ...

Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898). Scheherazade volunteers to be married to a Sultan who is killing his wife every morning. Her sister, Dinarzade, is sleeping in the same room as her and her new husband. Before the sun rises, Dinarzade wakes Scheherazade and asks her to tell a story. Scheherazade tells the story of a merchant who sits to eat dates and throws rocks around as he is doing so. Afterwards, he washes his hands and face in the fountain. A genius (genie) rushes up to him, ready to kill the merchant as he says the merchant killed his son. The merchant falls upon the ground, begging for mercy. Here, Scheherazade stops her story. The Sultan allows her to live so he can hear the rest of the story, thinking that he can always kill her tomorrow. The next morning, Dinarzade wakes Scheherazade and asks her to finish her story. Scheherazade continues. The merchant asks for a change to go home and bid h...